A while back I competed in a street portraiture photography competition hosted by Backyard Shots and Tamron USA. The entries were judged by the excellent street photographer, Craig Tanner. In looking at the great entries for that competition I was completely blown away when it was announced that I had won! Not only had I won the recognition but I also won the very versatile Tamron 60mm macro lens (it’s “full name is” the Tamron SP AF 60mm F/2 Di II LD IF Macro).

The Tamron lens is a very nice, compact lens that has an impressive maximum aperture of f/2.0. Couple that with the 60mm focal length on a lens designed for APS-C sensors and you have something that’s not “just” a great macro lens but is also a very good portrait lens.

Being a “Canon guy” I paired up the 60mm with my Canon 7D (yes, full disclosure, I *did* try it on my 5D Mk II full-frame body but as expected the vignetting was quite severe). On the 7D (or any other “crop sensor” camera) it’s a perfect fit and I was excited to take it out into a variety of situations to see what I create with it.

Overall I’d have to say I’m very pleased with the lens and its earned spot in my bag for most outings (it’s also very light without feeling like a cheap kit lens). Sharpness is very good, particularly when stopped down just a little, and the great depth-of-field control you get from this lens really lends itself to some creative work. Sure, it’s a really nice macro lens but I found myself shooting a wide variety of subjects with this lens –really far more than I have with any other single lens. While a nice medium zoom is more typically your choice for a “walk around” lens, the Tamron 60mm macro allowed me to get shots in lower light, as closer focus, and with better depth of field control than my usual go-to walk-around lens and I’m really pleased with the results.

I’ve included a number of images here that were all taken with the Tamron 60mm macro; I think it really helps illustrate what I’ve been saying about the lens’ versatility and image quality.

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